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Date Posted: 18:55:16 06/29/11 Wed
Author: James A. Farrar (Oh What a Blessing)
Subject: Permission to sell land.

Dear Board Members,

I received the Annual Newsletter and Ballot on Monday. You've done well and it was quite an achievement to get it out. Yours has the makings of one of the better Boards. In going over the newsletter and the ballot I have some issues that I'm not able to resolve dealing with the permission to sell land owned by DCCCLOA. It has to do with details for the sale and the use of the monies from the sales. It appears Owners have no say in the terms of the sale, monitoring of the sale and where the monies are to be allocated. It gives a crate blanch to the Board to be our representative and just do the best thing. As the architect Mies van der Rohe once said “the devil is in the details.” Some of the issues I have about giving permission is several-fold and you have covered a couple in the monthly meetings. This is my list but out of 2,600 lot owners I'm sure there are a bunch more.

1.0 There are 20 lots mentioned. The Club pays $3,600/yr. in property taxes.
2.0 Where are the lots? What is the value carried by MCAD for each property at what value.
3.0 On an average at $3,600/X=$3.00/$100valuation or roughly $120,000 property valuation on 20 properties.
4.0 Then the average on the properties is $120,000/20properties is $6,000 average value each property.
5.0 This has been previously discussed but how is DCCCLOA going to justify the sale at the present time if we are to pay income taxes on the profit being a gift to the association by Downey?
6.0 To sell the properties will probably require the services of a surveyor not only to lay them out but to find dedicated easements and set asides. Surveying services, legal services and the like need to be considered when selling the properties as you are aware.
7.0 Then there is the legal issue of mineral rights. Did Downey keep the mineral rights. I think he did. I believe Downey kept them and in the mid 80's a drilling firm came in and drilled for oil across on Dolphin a few lots east of Tommy Risinger's building. They capped it and went away. As I remember they were going to drill three but only drilled one. At the time the property of Section 20 was owned by John Anderson bought at a tax sale in maybe 1983.
8.0 I would think the Board Members and their families would not be allowed to purchase any of the properties due to it being perceived a conflict of interest. To allow Board Members to do so will be seen as the proverbial underhanded land deals going down with homeowner associations and local government. This ought to have been stated to that effect when asking association members to vote on giving the Board permission to sell the unidentified land.
9.0 Wetlands is a whole nother issue and does come into play but should be addressed for it can negate the value of the land and if so why are there property taxes being charged on worthless land. Joe Reiss had/has (?) 21 acres considered in the wetlands on Old Caney Creek. He cannot develop it without going through and mitigation process and providing dedicated acceptable land elsewhere for a trade at as I remember on a 5/1 ratio. In other words he would need buy and dedicate 5 X 21 acres = 105 acres of acceptable land to US Fish and Wildlife before he could develop the 21 acres. Are our lots effected? Probably some if they have not been mowed to remove the weeds that define a wetland.
10.0 The vote calls for permission to sell land. Therefore it is assumed the sale of the clubhouse and property is not included in the permission given. Is that correct? It needs to be clarified or is the Board going to somehow just include it without identifying it. I'm sure a lot of the association members are going to have the same question.
11.0 How is the sale of the land going to be handled? I would think in order for there not to be perceived collusion on the sale that someone independently would be used to handle the sales whether by realtor or auctioneer. Association members should be fully informed of the sale by a special newsletter in order that all members regardless of their status be fully informed of the sale, the properties, the terms and the time of the auction or the realtor who will be handling the sale all well in advance of any sale. If sold at auction it may not bring the money the property is worth. Then they might be handled in staggered phases and methods.
12.0 Then there is the question of where the money is to go from the sales and for what purposes. Members need to know in detail where the money is intended to be spent. What is the game plan? Are part-timers to pay for the comfort and convenience of the full-timers? There's been a good bit of that in the past. Just asking as any lot owner should. The sale of this property might bring $100,000 on the low end and maybe $400,000 on the high end. This along with more people paying back dues may reap quiet a bit of income that can be blown on activities and projects where some just want their name labeled to the project verses what's best for the whole. You could spend $500,000 on the 21 miles of roads and only pave may 25%. There needs to be in place a game plan for now, 6 months from now, 2 years out and 10 years out especially dealing with drainage and the canals. What makes Downey's? It's not the roads. Roads are for development and building commerce for the full-timers. It's the water and water means canals for the part-timers and full-timers. Canals taken back to their original depths of about eight feet will hold twice as many fish or more and make them cleaner handling more drainage. So it is roads and canals and the main park and that's about it. The park ought to have a progressive development plan for uses and amenities. There needs to be a detailed plan available to lot owners for the direction the association is headed. Future Boards will have a road map to follow. Past Board Members ought to be there for new members and not have to go through the age old learning process. After all we are all here to help one another and not to worry about credits.

These 20 lots were also set asides for various purposes which Downey called Reserve Lots meaning they were reserved for lot owners use. Some of those purposes included parks, break throughs for canals and just reserved to be defined by lot owners someday. Some of these set asides are there for dry land lot owners to have access to canals for their families. What is a park anyway but a place where the community can congregate on common ground. All you need to do is provide grass mowed once-in-a-while and maybe a light. Once the Association divests itself of these properties we will never have the money to buy another. Again it's all planning and doesn't compute very well to looking purely for a good looking accounting bottom line. If designated lots are identified and lot owners know they are there for them they might adopt them, mow and keep them up. Divestiture of them is like throwing the baby out with the wash. Some might be sold maybe all but there ought to be a plan and lot owners agree.

I'd suggest you take this off the table for a vote at this time and put a package together for the lot owners to have a detailed understanding make an intelligent decision on how the only liquid investment we have will be used for everyone's benefit.

Thank all of you for your time and efforts to put the Association back on the right track. It's been decades since the current level of professional and business people have served on the Board. God Bless you all.

Jim Farrar

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[> Re: Permission to sell land. -- James A. Farrar, 19:02:02 06/29/11 Wed [1]

Never again will I fill out "Expression". I put in the Expression "Oh What a Blessing" and lo and behold it came out by my name. THAT'S FUNNY! Hopefully the Lord meant it to be that way. STILL FUNNY!


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